Traditionally, utility meters, such as gas meters, water meters, electricity meters, and the like, were read manually by employees of the associated utility providers. Manual meter reading represented a significant cost to the typical utility provider. With the advent of wireless technology, including mesh networking, utility providers have implemented methods and systems for remote reading and control of these utility meters. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (“AMI”), also known as Advanced Metering Management (“AMM”), are systems that measure, collect and analyze utility data using advanced metering devices such as electronic water meters, gas meters and electricity meters. The metering devices combine automated data measurements with network communications capability enabling the metering devices to transmit and receive data through the AMI network.
In a typical configuration, a metering device, such as a water meter, measures and collects usage data, such as water usage data, at a customer's location. The metering device then uses a built-in communication interface to transmit the usage data through the AMI network to the utility provider's systems, referred to herein as the “host.” The metering device may transmit the usage data to the host on a scheduled basis or in response to a request received from the host. In some instances, the AMI network may include a wireless network configured with a mesh networking topology, with the metering devices being amongst the many nodes of the mesh network. Other nodes may include control devices, data collection hubs, repeaters, gateways, and the like. All nodes of the mesh network may cooperate in the distribution of data through the AMI network. A metering device may transmit usage data to the host through one of a number of available paths, or “routes,” through the nodes of the mesh network. Each node may be assigned one or more parent nodes with which the node may communicate directly, with the parent nodes responsible for relaying the data through other nodes of the network to the intended destination.
Routing is one of the most costly and time consuming steps in installation of a mesh network. Because the usage data must be transmitted from the metering devices to the host on a timely basis, it is important that the assigned routes be reliable. When a new node is installed in the AMI network, it is usually provided a parent node by the installer. The best parent node may be guessed based on the location of the node and proximity to other nodes in the mesh network. However such guesses based on geographic proximity can be unreliable due to the unpredictable nature of radio links.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.